Gun violence again at center stage in Harrisburg
HARRISBURG — One said a new “red flag” law on gun ownership could save lives.
The other said laws don’t stop criminals.
They were two snippets of the testimony presented in a Wednesday Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee public hearing on gun-related issues. It came after a divisive Tuesday in Harrisburg when Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf chastised a Republican committee chairman for creating a “blockade” to what Wolf described as widely supported anti-gun violence proposals.
The back-to-back days of gun discussions came during the first full week that both chambers of the General Assembly were back in Harrisburg following a summer break — a break that was filled with national and local stories about gun violence.
“I know in your heart you know that all the laws on the books aren’t going to stop criminals from committing criminal acts,” Joshua Prince, an attorney whose clientele includes gun owners and manufacturers, said during the Wednesday hearing.
His comment was directed at Sen. Lawrence Farnese Jr., a Philadelphia Democrat and minority chair of the Judiciary Committee. Farnese had cited an instance where an AR-15 had wound up in the hands of a criminal via sales that could have been prevented by an expanded background check law.
The next speaker, Adam Skaggs, chief counsel and policy director at Giffords Law Center, said Pennsylvania could save lives by passing a so-called “red flag” law.
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have adopted such laws, which allow judges to temporarily revoke the rights to buy or possess guns of people deemed dangerous, Skaggs said.
“These are temporary prohibitions in nature and not permanent,” said Skaggs. Sometimes, the removal of gun-owning rights lasts less than a year.
A “red flag” proposal sponsored by state Republican Rep. Todd Stephens of Montgomery County failed to move forward in the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, three Lehigh Valley lawmakers — Democrat Reps. Mike Schlossberg and Pete Schweyer and Republican Sen. Pat Browne — spoke in favor of red flag laws.
“It has the potential to save lives,” Schlossberg said. He said he would support “parliamentary tactics” to get around the committee stoppage and bring a red flag bill to the full House.
Historically, Schweyer said, many gun crimes in Allentown are related to domestic violence. A red flag law, he said, would work to keep guns out of the hands of people who are emotionally distraught from bad domestic situations.
Browne said red flag legislation should be seriously considered because government has a “compelling interest” to protect citizens.
Wolf previously said he saw proposals to expand background checks and implement red flag prohibitions as common sense and having widespread support. His “blockade” criticism Tuesday was directed at Republican House Judiciary Chairman Rob Kauffman of Franklin County.
In an interview Wednesday, Kauffman said the governor was “flat wrong” and merely giving partisan talking points.
The red flag proposal, he said, is “really an anti-gun push.”
Instead, Kauffman said, more attention should be paid to a bill of Kauffman’s that would require people who are involuntarily committed to a mental health facility to surrender any firearms within 48 hours of release.
Current law, Kauffman said, allows the surrendering of firearms by such individuals to stretch out over 60 days. The bill was approved by the committee in a unanimous vote on Tuesday.
Kauffman said his bill involves both gun safety and a “tried and true” aspect of the mental health system, the involuntary commitment.
A spokesman for Wolf, J.J. Abbott, said Wednesday that Wolf ’s comment about a “blockade” was in response to a Tuesday statement by Kauffman, who said, “We don’t have any intention of addressing further gun control measures this session.”
Morning Call reporter Ford Turner can be reached at 717-7837305 or fturner@mcall.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report